Chaos is action packed and chaotic the entire way through! This is the third book in the Uncharted Hearts series and follows Caro’s adventure to the inside of a prison lab. Being that Caro’s form of planning tends to be more towards improvising and luck than having an actual plan, many unexpected things occurred. It’s a fun read!

I absolutely adore this series. The Unchained Heart series is sci-fi romance with a perfect amount of found family helping each other through action and adventure! I really vibe with Constance Fay’s writing style. I find her to be incredibly witty and self-aware. I enjoy a series where each of the characters eventually gets a chance to be the lead because don’t we all wanna be the lead in our own life story! Which is also a subplot of this book! Once again, I am invested in this series and the overarching plot. I hope it continues and would definitely recommend this sci-fi romance to everyone!


Thank you #NetGalley and #Tor for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up.

Another fun entry in this series! Book 3 in the Uncharted Hearts series follows Calamity's engineer Caro Ogunyemi as she takes off on a rescue mission to infiltrate a luxury prison, help her two friends Victory and Victory steal some powerful technology, and rescue a man (Leviathan) who is being subject to mind control experiments. This has the signature wit and humor from Fay's first two books, full of witty banter and science innuendos. The plot has fun heist-style vibes and it's fun to meet Victor and Victory. (We even get a few chapters from Victory's point of view, which I enjoyed reading, but also felt like they somewhat detracted from Caro's story arc.) The science fiction part of this was full of fun adventures and done well, but I do feel like that came somewhat at the expense of the romance. I don't feel like Caro and Leviathan/Levi got enough page space to really develop their relationship the way we're suppose to believe they have by the end of the book. That being said, I was still thoroughly entertained by the book, and especially enjoyed GR81, the android character who appears about halfway through.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Chaos: Uncharted Hearts, Book 3 by Constance Fay is a thrilling romance that follows the intense relationship between a space mercenary and a super soldier. Their connection becomes even more electrifying when her mind-control abilities are shattered by a simple touch. From the very first page, I was captivated by this gripping tale and found myself unable to set it aside.

I love a good heist/prison break story, so this sounded right up my alley. I had a really enjoyable time reading this and easily related to Caro’s inner monologue. Honestly her inner monologue was one of my favorite aspects of this story. The other thing I really loved was the android, GR81. There were so many great scenes involving GR81 and epic lines. I also found the heist/prison break plot to be well paced between amped up action scenes and slower scenes to take in and analyzer information. I do want to mention, though, that I felt this was heist/prison break first with the romance being a smaller subplot. If you’re going in expecting this to be romance forward, you’ll be disappointed. It’s also worth noting that you do not need to read the first two in the series in order to read this installment. With how much I enjoyed this, I plan to go back to the first two, but I wasn’t lost by any means reading this. I also really hope there are future books in the works featuring Victory/Dominic and Victor/Kaori. They had some great chemistry in the scenes they were in together.

Chaos had an intriguing premise—a space mercenary and a mind-controlled super soldier whose lethal programming is disrupted by her touch—but unfortunately, it lost me almost immediately. Engineer Caro Ogunyemi embarks on a daring mission to infiltrate a prison planet run by the ruthless Pierce family, where she encounters Leviathan, a genetically enhanced soldier turned into a mindless killer. The moment she touches him, his control chip malfunctions, and while this should set the stage for an action-packed, high-stakes romance, the setup at the beginning of the book turned me off of this story instantaneously.

I DNF’ed this book barely into the second chapter. The moment Caro watched a two-second video of Leviathan in a prison cell and immediately reduced him to an object of desire, I knew this wasn’t for me. While I understand attraction plays a role in romance, the overt sexualization of the love interest so early on felt so hollow. My skepticism was already high after my disappointment with the second book in this series, and sadly, this installment reinforced my concerns.

Beyond the surface-level attraction, Caro is introduced as a "genius," yet everything about her characterization suggested she would make reckless, frustrating decisions throughout the book. I have no patience for another protagonist constantly praised for intelligence while consistently making illogical choices.

If you're looking for a sci-fi romance that leans heavily on attraction and objectification, this might work for you, but personally, I prefer characters with more depth and a romance that doesn’t feel so one-dimensional from the start.

Thank you the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

I didn't realize "her touch heals him" was a trope on my bucket list, but consider my mind changed. I love being back with the crew. This Uncharted Hearts series keeps introducing us to new members of the crew and I'm here for it! Chaos forces Caro out of her depths. Not only is she roped into this heist meets rescue mission, a new development means she's without her technology. As a maybe genius, being robbed of her abilities forces Caro to figure out what her skills are. Chaos has plenty of high action scenes from prison breaks to chase scenes but it's balanced with plenty of humor (and some spice!).

Caro Ogunyemi is an engineer on Calamity. She's on an away mission off ship to infiltrate a luxury prison. She meets supersoldier Leviathan, a gorgeous, strong man with a manufactured chip in his head unleashing his potential. The race is on to extract Leviathan and get off the prison planet.

Oof. While I liked book 1 (Calamity) and really enjoyed book 2 (Fiasco), Chaos didn't work for me. The challenge is that this series is written in first person present tense, and that means that if you don't enjoy being in the main character's head, it doesn't work. (I find this to be much more of a personal choice, to like or not like the POV character than when you are in third person.) We get two perspectives: Caro and mercenary teammate Victory. While this gives us unique perspective on the action, it gives us little additional perspective on the romance. Which leads me to argue that this isn't a romance novel. There is a romantic arc with an HEA, but it never feels like the central plot. Caro and Leviathan exchange a couple dozen words before they hook up, and without Levi's internal monologue I felt left in the dark about him being anything other than gorgeous, good at fighting, and good in bed. Lust, I believe, love, I didn't.

While this book wasn't for me, I think readers who enjoy first person POV and plot driven novels will! For the invested reader it will move quickly.

I enjoyed the first two books in this sci-fi romance series as nonstop action plots with fun, sexy romances and fun, dubiously scientific elements. This one was my least favorite of the series, unfortunately.

Caro is a tech genius who decides after one brief meeting with a smarmy former boss that she needs to infiltrate a luxury prison to save a sexy, genetically modified prisoner/experiment subject. (Said former boss provided Caro with a "grainy video" of the sexy prisoner, and she basically fell in lust from a few frames of his tortured face...) She somehow manages to rescue him and expose the unethical experiments by the end of the book, despite her absolute ineptitude at basically every task, including the tech stuff she's supposed to be a genius at.

I found that the story really lagged, as we spend chapter after chapter in Caro's POV as she somehow justifies her too-stupid-to-live actions. This book highlighted for me that these books really, really need that nonstop action plot, because without it I found it difficult to be interested in what was happening in Caro's head. The romance also felt very surface level to me. Sooooo, this one was kind of a miss, and one I was pretty disappointed in since I'd enjoyed the other books in the series.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.

I think this is my favorite in the series. It was such a fun read. Caro and leviathan or two characters that I loved getting to know better. They are both such a mixture of toughness and vulnerability. This has such a mixture of serious issues (human experimentation) and humor. Constance Fay does such a good job at moving from one to the other. I laughed so many times in this book. I was also finding myself nervous because I couldn't figure out how they were getting out of some of the situations that they ended up in. That is good writing! The romance was also so sweet to watch. I highly recommend this book!

There needs to be more sci-fi romance out there, this was so much fun to read! I loved the MC, and the romance elements in this one. Highly recommended!

This whole series has been wonderful and CHAOS is a delightful addition. Caro has been a fun but mysterious character in the first two entries of the Uncharted Hearts series and it was a wild, intense, and wholly unpredictable time getting to know about her; I loved it. Female characters, even MCs, don’t often get this much development in romance - especially sci-fi romance - and the fact that Caro doesn’t fit the standard mold physically, and that fact that’s she’s brilliant and morally complex, only recommends her more, as well as the fact that she learns as much about herself as we learn about her on this journey. I also appreciate the effort Fay put in to make this story different from the first two entries into the series ; Caro is a different kind of character and she deserved to step out on her own.
As a romance, well, that part isn’t conventional either and didn’t actually go the way I was expecting, and I loved the book for that. I loved the way Caro and Levi built trust, talked to one another, and both had the same sensibility about being a little goofy and laughing during intimate moments. There is a fantastic “talk nerdy to me” moment that I think really captures their relationship and I’m excited to talk to all of you about it when you get there.
Definitely recommend. And we ended on a note that makes me think there may be more coming? Please and thank you, Bramble?!

Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I've been a fan of the Uncharted Hearts series since CALAMITY and CHAOS does not disappoint! As a nerd myself, I loved the peek into Caro's brain. I loved that she's clumsy and a terrible shot, but still smart enough to hold her own against her foes. The love interest is great and I'm impressed at how Constance Fay really built up a character that only gets a few chances to speak, in the beginning.

The book kept leaving me wanting more of the Uncharted Hearts series. They're so fun and creative and a joy to read!

Supersoldiers in sci-fi romance? Always a win! Chaos completely delivered on action, humor, and heart. Caro was such an endearing protagonist—her intelligence was her greatest strength, and I loved how that played into her character. Leviathan was a fascinating mystery to unravel, and I especially enjoyed that he wasn’t the typical supersoldier archetype. It made him feel so unique and compelling!

The prison planet of Shikigami was absolutely wild in the best way. The setting added a fun, chaotic energy to the story that made everything feel fresh and unpredictable. The humor, tension, and high stakes were perfectly balanced, keeping me hooked from start to finish.

I think I know who the next book will be about, and if I’m right, I am so ready for it! This series just keeps getting better, and I can’t wait for more. If you love sci-fi romance with strong heroines, mysterious supersoldiers, and high-stakes action, this is one to add to your TBR!

📣 space romance with a tech heroine who saves the hero…twice 👏🏻

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

📖 what’s a book you’re hoping to finish before the end of January? One of mine is Fan Service by Rosie Danan.

An imprisoned hero who’s been mind- & body-manipulated into a killer super-soldier.

A heroine who’s gonna save him & some others by battling space baddies with her tech pad.

& some smooching.

Chaos by Constance Fay is a mostly satisfactory installment in this series, serving up lots of plans & escape attempts & two people falling in love against all the odds.

Despite all the thrills, I had some problems reading it easily & quickly, although that might be a January thing (it’s been 7 years long, after all). My brain didn’t feel fully equipped to handle it all, not to mention that there are some weighty topics that get kind of glossed over at the end.

But if you like space romance with lots of twists & turns & master-planning against many villains, check out this series, especially book 1, which is my fave!

3⭐️. Out 03/11.

CWs: murder, attempted murder, manipulation, bodily mutation without consent
[ID: The book is on an open hardback placed on an aqua tray. above is a multicolored crochet scarf. The tray is on snow.]

Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of Chaos by Constance Fey in exchange for an honest review.

Book Three of the Uncharted Hearts series focuses on Caro Ogunyemi, engineer of the ship. At the start of the book, she's scouting an uninhabited planet where she's set upon by nightmarish insects. This will be important later. But for now, she's recovering from that misadventure when she gets a call from her former boss, a lying jackass, who explains that he roped two of Caro's shipmates into a side mission for him and now he's worried they've been captured. Caro, in the first of a series of incredibly bad decisions, believes him despite his history of dishonest and selfish behavior, and immediately commits to a solo rescue mission. It doesn't hurt that he's sent her a vid clip of a large, handsome prisoner that Caro immediately imprints on like a teenager pining for the latest heartthrob.

The mission is to break into the ritzy, spa/prison for the ultra wealthy inmates where her twin shipmates Victor and Victory have gone undercover. Caro, like everyone else on the blasted ship, has a Past and Dark Secrets. Hers happens to be that she once worked for the Family that runs the prison. When she discovered their illegal and unethical medical experiments, she sabotaged the operation and went on the lam. So for the current mission, she decides the best way to break into the prison is to just... present herself to the Family she once sabotaged and act like she wants her old job back.

Once inside, she plans to use her sophisticated tech skills to find her shipmates, free the handsome man from the vid clip, and run away again. It does not occur to her that anything might go wrong. The poor judgement continues from there. The reader is told ad nauseum that Caro is a genius (except when making bad decisions), cowardly (except when she's throwing herself into situations she's not equipped to handle), and a terrible, clumsy fighter (except when she needs to be good at it.) The story relies heavily on the reader suspending disbelief and agreeing that every one of her bad choices will work out the way the story says they do.

This is not all to say it's a terrible book. It's actually very entertaining. The world-building is interesting, the side characters are fun (GR81, you're the best!), and if you can suspend all that disbelief, it's an exciting story. The fight scenes are thrilling. It even seems to set up the next book, a couple who are arguably more compelling than Caro and Levi. It's just that this is the weakest link in a fun, sci-fi romance series.

Recommended for readers who enjoy fun, space-opera romances, for folks who like a good fight scene with blasters, and readers who enjoy sassy AI characters.

I really enjoyed the first two books in this series. Chaos is, well, chaotic and full of action sequences and snark.

However, I didn’t enjoy Chaos as much as the first two. Caro is the least interesting of the Calamity crew to me, and she spends almost the entire book away from the rest of the team. She is known for her tech skills, but in this book she kills any tech she touches, which is ... convenient. She seems invincible in this book, which is kind of boring. Also she and her romantic partner fall in insta-love, she just from watching a video of him. And she makes some very very stupid decisions. There is a subplot with a sentient android that is … totally predictable.

This one felt way less original than the first two, and it could have used a good editor. I will keep reading the series; hopefully I will enjoy Itzel’s story as much as I enjoyed the first two books.

I read an advance reader copy from Netgalley.

I adored the first two books in this series so I have been impatiently waiting for the next one.

This book is once again very different in structure than the previous two, and while I loved the heist narrative, I was a bit underwhelmed by Caro, but I think this is more a personal preference. I think since she was in the previous two books to varying degrees I already had an idea of what she was like, and this didn't match that - she felt younger, a bit more green than I was expecting. I do appreciate the growth that we see in her character, I just would have appreciated it a bit sooner in the narrative. Her chemistry and relationship with Leviathan though really made this the sci-fi romance than I love from Fay. It was completely original but full of layers and growth that makes it such a joy to read.
The narrative is well plotted with the tension and layering working so well to give all the vibes of a heist movie even though everything goes wrong. The world that Fay has built through the series has the right amount added to it, but with callbacks and foundational structure still the same. I was so happy to finally meet the twins and am already obsessed with them. Unfortunately for me, I think having Victory's chapters intermixed made it more difficult for me to attach to Caro because I loved Victory's so much. I really really can't wait for Victory to get her own book please.

This was a really cool sci-fi read. Super high paced and engaging with a nice little romance.didn’t realize it was a part of a series so I’ll definitely be going back to read those as well.

Chaos is fast-paced, heart-racing romance that combines high-tension, space drama with intense emotional depth. The chemistry between Caro and Leviathan is electrifying, and their journey together is a rollercoaster of thrilling moments and touching vulnerability. The world-building is stellar, bringing to life a space-bound universe filled with enemies, betrayal, and sinister plots that adds a dark layer to the action. I couldn’t put it down, and definitely looking forward to read more from this author.